Great OA Article

Overeaters Anonymous program gives support to those with eating compulsions, disorders
By STACY BYRNE
Tribune Staff Writer

Tammy opens the Monday night meeting of Overeaters Anonymous by announcing she should have "liar" written across her forehead rather than "loser."

"I've been abusing laxatives, and I quit smoking, so I've been yelling more than ever," said the attractive, fit-looking woman with the likable smile.

That means "Tammy" doesn't have to share her last name, age, occupation or anything else about herself at the meeting. All she has to bring to OA is the desire to stop eating compulsively.

"Hi, I'm Tammy and I'm a compulsive overeater-bulimic," she says, after reading aloud the Step One chapter in "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous."

Tammy tells the group she's been exercising bulimia and getting into anorexia and strict calorie watching. She comments about the sodium content in her Dasani berry-flavored water and how that could affect her weight.

And she says she smacked one of her kids ... "really hard."

"It didn't faze him but it sure fazed me," says Tammy, looking down at her manicured nails rather than facing her peers.

But none of the other six people in classroom-like meeting room with the tables set in a square says a word. They don't bombard her with questions. They don't offer advice or make comments. They just listen.

Their lives become unmanageable when they don't work the Overeaters Anonymous program.

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